If there’s an expansion in a department at work, you would think that would mean that more employees would need to be hired, right?

In today’s story, one manager seems to think that’s not the case.

Instead of fighting to get their way, a union delegate decides to let the manager have his way and see how that works out.

Let’s read the whole story.

I stake my reputation on the fact we don’t need any extra staff!

Years ago I was a union delegate for a hospital that underwent expansion.

More services , more beds, an extra operating theatre etc.

Before the expansion opened the usual fight between the unions and management started over staffing.

An expansion means they need more staff, right?

We went in really well prepared and management took it well offering staffing we wanted.

We had a final meeting with about 40 people In the room, HR , department heads and the various unions.

We get to a department I will call ABC and the department head say we don’t need any extra staff except for nurses.

I argued you have more space and more beds and you need more cleaners , wardsmen admin staff etc.

He disagreed.

He fires back “ I stake my reputation on it that we don’t need any extra staff”.

I ask the minutes record this specifically.

A meeting is set down for four weeks after the hospital expansion opening.

We let him have his way knowing he wouldn’t be successful.

He was proven wrong.

Guess whose department turned into a complete farce?

Nothing terrible just lots of little issue.

At the next union meeting again with all people Previously present I read out the list of issues department ABC has.

I then read out the last minutes with him stating they didn’t need any extra staffing and that the department head had staked his reputation on it.

I then asked the head of ABC to justify all of this.

He couldn’t.

Time for the CEO to decide.

I asked him as he staked his reputation on this and the outcomes have been poor, what does that mean?

He gave no answer.

I look towards the CEO and said you were here last time and buck stops with you.

He agreed to review the situation urgently.

We all know what this really means, right?

The union placed the hospital into formal industrial dispute at the meeting over the lack of staffing in department ABC.

The next day the CEO sends out an email stating after a brief conversation with the head of department ABC, he has chosen to seek different career opportunities.

Yeah, that guy was fired.

He messed up by being so overly confident about something he was clearly wrong about.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This is probably what the manger hoped would happen.

But it definitely didn’t work out that way!

Yes, always make sure it’s on the record.

All he had to do to save his job was admit he was wrong.

This is the big lesson here.

Sometimes the best revenge is letting someone have their way.

Just give them enough rope.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.